Passive solar, grassroots green

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2007 at 2:00 AM

It's striking how the debate over Cape Wind has been limited, from the start, to a false dichotomy. Either we invite a for-profit (but well-subsidized) corporation to plant more than 100 gigantic turbines over an expanse of our public, scenic ocean. Or we fail to do our bit for the fight to save the planet from global warming.

It's striking how the debate over Cape Wind has been limited, from the start, to a false dichotomy. Either we invite a for-profit (but well-subsidized) corporation to plant more than 100 gigantic turbines over an expanse of our public, scenic ocean. Or we fail to do our bit for the fight to save the planet from global warming.

An element mostly missing from the debate is solar power.

Forward-looking Peter White of Yarmouth tried to bring before a number of this spring's town meetings the first step toward solarization. Yarmouth voted to borrow $50,000 to install photovoltaics on the roof of town hall.

But selectmen from Dennis, Brewster, Orleans and Harwich did not recommend the article for their town meetings. One was left with a feeling that even those opposed to an offshore power plant don't view solar as a serious alternative.

A little perspective. Back in the 1970s, when the first energy crisis was raging, I bought my first house. There I was, prices skyrocketing and dire predictions of a world wrung dry of oil, living in a drafty, uninsulated, old fixer-upper with a monster oil-slurping furnace. So when articles and books began to appear touting a solar approach, you can be sure I paid attention. To me what I learned to call "passive" solar was the big hope.

Passive solar's basic logic: Point most of the windows in your house south to let the sun get at them. Locate fewer windows on the other sides of the house. Super-insulate walls to trap the solar gain.

Well of course, what could be more natural? Do you stand in the shade if you're cold? And yet in the era of cheap energy that was coming to an abrupt halt, few builders or owners had thought of it. As an insecure first-time homeowner, I was comforted by the knowledge that I could stay warm in the winter and not depend entirely on the whims of oil moguls in the Persian Gulf or Texas.

Along with passive solar there was "active" solar, such as rooftop photovoltaic panels. These were too expensive at the time to interest me. But high-tech solar has come a long way since then. A recent PBS Nova program featured progress made in Germany: photovoltaics covering the roof of a supermarket, supplying all its energy needs; a guy experimenting with a paint that would, for a fraction of the cost, replace panels for collecting solar energy. Germany is heading for a 30 percent reduction in dependence on traditional fuels because of its solar program compared to less than 1 percent in the U.S. for both wind and solar. The most optimistic maximum figure I've heard for wind power is 20 percent, worldwide, if turbines were installed on every ridge and off every shore.

One of the things wrong with wind power, as it has been proposed to us, is that it is clearly a big company solution. It encourages the powerless feeling that if we are going to do something, anything, about a switch to green fuels, a big company's going to have to do it for us.

The nice thing about passive solar is that it takes green from big companies and makes it more grassroots. Tired of sitting around waiting for government to make it happen — or don't like a wind company's profit-oriented plans? Add another layer of insulation; move a window from north to south. Switch to solar hot water.

Government could do a lot to enhance the solar alternative. The fact is, solar hasn't seemed a realistic option because we haven't made it a priority. A government program requiring all new housing to incorporate basic passive solar logic would immediately begin to save big money. A required passive solar retrofit of existing buildings (backed by subsidies) would produce even more savings.

If we are serious about green energy sources, we need to pay attention to the solar alternative to big company wind factories.

It's more grassroots and, because it's much less obtrusive, much less controversial than wind turbines dominating every view.

Brent Harold of Wellfleet, a former English professor, is the author of "Wellfleet and the World." Reach him at his Web site, www.brentharold.com, or e-mail him at kinnacum@capecod.net.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.